Recent Comments

There's a good (old) essay called the Heresy of Zone Defense by art critic Dave Hickey. He basically uses the NBA to illustrate how some rules liberate and other rules bind and constrict. He's talking about the old Dr. J era, but it mostly still holds true. The basektball related part gets translated to the art world.

It's worthwhile if you're fan of basketball or art or just reading. It''ll take about 5 minutes. Take it or leave it.

It's a lot of guys in one class, but there are ways to create separation that open windows for WR's. Some of these guys will redshirt which allows the staff to focus on elite guys instead of filling numbers. Some of these guys have the physical tools to enter the draft early ir they maximize their potential. Between those two factors and the ball skills Hawkins showed on film this year, it could make sense to keep at WR until a need emerges elsewhere.

Wouldn't bring this up otherwise, but in terms of lack of pass rush, it seemed at some point on the second half the refs basically stopped calling even blatant holding on their OL. Saw Taco literally get tackled out there. This may have been more of a factor tan lack of heart or effort.

Eno Benjamin is the high school running back who is really into experimental ambient, somewhat electronic music and sound effects. He collaborates with that guy from the Talking Heads on stuff. Totally different guy.

While it's early, and the jury is still out on Speight long term, we're starting to see evidence that he's the kind of guy who doesn't freak out and wilt in big moments. The touchdown pass to Darboh last weekend was spot on, and last year against Minnesota he stepped into a tough position and made some nice throws after a shaky start. No one should slap the "clutch" label on him just yet, but there are reasons to be optimistic.

Continued improvement will probably be necessary to beat teams like Ohio State. Hopefully he is on the Rudock trajectory...

While the offense the last couple years hasn't been what it was with Burke and Stauskas, it is sitll way more advanced than what Michigan ran under Amaker. JB's offense has pick and rolls, dives to the basket, and ways to draw the defense away from players to get them open. Execution hasn't been as strong, but there is a system in place to try and help generate open looks.

Amaker's offense was maddening. Literally, players would just swing the ball around the perimeter the majority of the time with no off the ball movement. There was very little cutting, they did nothing to move the defense, and that would be followed by a dependency on someone (Daniel Horton, Dion Harris) with a decent amount of talent trying to create a decent look out of desperation on almost every possession.

the fact that many of those highly rated players didn't improve (some seemed to regress) under Amaker was the problem. That, and an offense that seemed to consist of passing the ball around the perimeter followed by one guy trying to get off a pull up jumper...

I don't think necessarily obvious that this was Harbaugh's plan going in. With judging one way or the other, it could be realistic that he thought the process would take longer and that the early commits were guys he wanted to build with early. The season exceeded most outsider expectations. Doing so may have opened up doors to recruits that seemed unrealistic to the staff originally.

If the 2017 class is handled the same way, then you can say it's a pattern. To say otherwise is rushing to slap a label on something. We may see a very different and more selective strategy with the next class.

While no team is going to put up 100 3's per game, a sound offensive philosophy will skew towards getting as many high efficiency shots as possible. On every offensive possession, a team will have multiple opportunites to take a shot. Teams run their offense unitl they get a shot that they're happy with and take their chances with it.

Anyone will take a layup given the opportunity. An open 3 for a solid shooter is something most teams will live with in their distribution. Long 2's should fit into the "only if we can't get anything else" category. The higher percentage of quality looks, the better off you're going to be.

They matter, but guys like LaMarcus Aldridge are the exceptions that prove the rule. Very few players at any level can hit that shot with enough consistency to make it efficient. Even Aldridge has started spotting up from three more often in the last few years of his career.

Highly recommend going to the breweries for St. Arnold, Karback, and 8th Wonder. The former two have really good food, and all three have different variants and beers they're experimenting with available at the brewery. Buffalo Bayou could be worth a visit as well, but I've never been...

Last night, Ruddock was not "certainly better than anything we saw last year." He wasn't terrible, but he had his fair share of mistakes. You speak of not feeling impending doom, but the guy threw three interceptions including the pick six that sealed the game. He also missed several wide open passes downfield. Completing one of those previously swings the game our way. Devin had some rough outings last season, but let's not pretend like last night's QB performance was far and away better than what we saw last year.

In most cases, I agree, but look at this one in particular. It's not like he decommitted to take a visit to Stanford. Syracuse has made lots of news recently and not for oncourt heroics. In this case, calling things fishy is probably warranted.

At least filling the seats shows those on the outside that we still have people that support our players, still have enough people who give a damn that we can have 100,000+ in our stadium every week, still hold out some hope that we can work out some issues and compete for a big ten title.

Not showing up hurts the program in a variety of different ways, yet does nothing to solve the problem a lot of us legitmatley have with our coaching staff.

The real fallacy of that culture is that fact that Michael Jordan, the guy who hit numerous game winning shots in his storied career was always more than willing to kick it out to guys like John Paxson, Steve Kerr, Bill Wennington, etc when that was the right move.

"but because he's not part of a culture that yells at LeBron James for kicking it to a wide-open Donyell Marshall for a game-winning three* that he happens to miss"

I remember the exact play Brian is referencing above. The post game commentary about how Lebron lacked courage/heart/killer instinct was ridiculous, and I couldn't help but think that if Donyell Marshall had made that wide open corner three then all of the talking heads lambasting Lebron would instead be hailing him as the second coming of Magic Johnson and praising his unselfishness. It's nice to see sportswriting that sees the big picture is out there...the fact that it is free is all the better.

Can wet get Bob Odenkirk to play Izzo in the lifetime original movie titled Greener On the Other Side, which chronicles the downfall of MSU basketball and Izzo's struggle to relate to NBA Players at his next gig???

I could also see the final episode mirroring the episode where Walt obsesses over killing the fly in the meth lab. In the end, it is Jesse who risks his life in order to kill the fly (Todd?), while Walt lies there exhausted/dying. When Jesse finally finished the job, one he never actually believed was necessary, he looks for Walt's approval, but he's already gone. Jesse end up dragging him off to his, in this case final, resting place.

Not sure if Jesse cares enough about Walt to fight for him anymore, but things seem to turn quickly in this show. That episode always stood out as being a little extra weird to me...

I like the idea of Walt finding a way to extort money out of Grey Matter. It's likely the only means he has left to get money to his family. There could be potential there for blackmail.

In the last episode, during the shot of Walt coughing at the feet of Sal, the camera seems to go out of its way to frame Walt within an unfinished stud wall filled with PINK insulation. Given all the Checkhov's gun thingies and color code references used in the show, it could be that Grey Matter made part of its fortune on a chemical compound that goes into insulation, knowing all the while that their product causes cancer, likely even the source of Walt's lung cancer.

Also, this could all be false, but Walt would certainly be willing to make up such a story...kinda like the confessional he made for Hank and Marie.

While venturing into the potentially shallow territory of comparing players of a certain skin color to players of the same skin color, watching those highlights reminds me a lot of Nick Collison. Both have a solid post game and can knock down the mid range shot. Both are athletic enough to finish at the rim, but not quite explosive enough to go all De'Andre Jordan on somebody. They've got that other thing in common too...

If he ends up anywhere close to as good as Collison was at Kansas, we've got a heckuva player.

If Adidas was really interested in designing uniforms that put as much "maize" on these as possible, they would've treated their precious three stripes just as they did "Michigan" on the front of the jersey.

New mantra: it's not the name on the front of the jersey, it's the logo on the back of the shoes???

2. The majority of the argument doesn't seem to be Current Bowl System vs Tiny Playoff. The issue is that the Bowl System is not a good way of determining the national champion. Large or small, no one seems to dispute that a playoff is a sound way to choose a champion. Rarely have I heard anyone complain about the validity of a tourney champ in NCAA hoops or any other sport.

3. The logistics of having a "very big" playoff don't work for football like they do in basketball. An 8 team playoff would be pushing it and I think the NCAA can figure this out. You wouldn't have to be pissed off about losing the bowl system. It will probably still be there waiting to provide you with decent matchups of teams that range from "so so" to "good but not great" from early December until NYE. Then on Jan 1st you could have a legit way to settle on a national champ as a bonus.

The BCS and all of their cronies are now in self preservation mode, and they're grasping at straws to try and remain relevant so they can still collect their paychecks. A small selective playoff, like the one Brian and others have suggested, preserves the importance of the regular season just as well as the current system does. The justifications they give for trying to keep the BCS intact are hollow sentiments aimed at trying to convince everyone that the status quo is something we should all embrace.

on 1st glance through, it does comes across as negative and a little harsh.

sorry dude.

IIRC from the other posts about him, it sounds like if Jarrod Wilson doesn't commit, then he wold get his scholarship. Not sure if this is confirmed or speculation pieced together from quotes in the posts. If that's the case, it would suggest the staff thinks that he's much more than just a step above walk-on status.

while it might be cheap to play, it's relatively tough to play a pickup game becausey you need a lot of people and a lot of space. with a game like basketball, if you have a hoop and a ball at least you can shoot around. two guys can play one on one. four can play an actual game.

The problems with its marketability also stem from the ability of star players to have the opportunity to make plays. In basketball, soccer, hockey, and football, you can gear an offense toward your best players. In baseball, your best hitter usually gets 3 to 5 chances to make a difference in a 3 hour span. I think that's a definite flaw in the game.

I've never really been a fan of baseball, and I've always been bothered by the whole "America's Pasttime" mystique surrounding it. It seems like they are grasping at straws and yelling "God is on our side" in order to convince people to watch. In my opinion, it is a slow, tedious game to watch, and playing isn't much better. Standing in the outfield and waiting for something to maybe come your way isn't exactly exciting. I think its time has past, and it will continue to be marginalized.

I know you guys work hard with all the writing, and are busy with all the signing day stuff, and I should be happy to have such a great site offered up for free, but it would be awesome to have the previews up more than a few hours before tip off.

nobody's gonna know if he's the real deal until next year's big 10 schedule gets started. while it's a great hire, I don't think it solves all our problems. let's temper things before declaring Hoke to be Bo 2.0.

I'm sure if he had inherited a talented (or at least capable) pocket passer, he probably would've molded the offense around him, and eased into that transition. I remember everyone citing how much he threw the ball with Sean King at the helm, which proves he will throw when that is the best option. In reality, he probably looked around and saw what he had in walk-on Nick Sheridan competing with RS freshmen Steve Threet, and said ef' it, let's get this show on the road.

The results were painful, but it was probably the right move, considering that neither of those guys was going to lead an offense capable of competing at the top of the Big 10 anyway.

Can people stop writing "B1G"? I know what it means (and what it's supposed to stand for), but I look at it and assume immediately that someone has misspelled the word "big" while needlessly using all caps. My brain makes Lou Holtz noises every time I read it.

an on camera interview where Rich Rod was asked point blank about Mallett within weeks of him excepting the job at Michigan. RR replied that he had tried to convince Mallett to stay on three different occasions, and that this was enough to convince RR that he didn't want to be here. I also seem to remember the general part of Michigan fandom who always reply with something along the lines of "I only care about players who want to play for Michigan", rallying around him for this, at least momentarily. Dollars to donuts that those same fans are the same ones claiming he ran off Mallett because he didnt' want to adapt now.

I can accept the new hire. I can hope that he'll work out. I'm not going to sit here idly and watch while people make up shit and post rationalize things in an effort to convince themselves that the ship has righted itself and everything is going to be okay.

in fairness to Stu Douglass, pretty much everyone on the team was clanking on open looks yesterday. we could've pulled out the W if anyone had made some open shots. his contributions are subtle, but they are still there.

DB understands PR pretty well. If it's someone shocking and impressive like stoops, patterson, gruden, (maybe miles), then I could see a big intro at the game. But, I think he knows better to trot out an unproven commodity like Hoke in front of thousands of fans who expect the very best. He'll have to ask himself what the potential backlash would be.

Don't forget that last time we were looking for a head coach, les miles was given the outsider treatment for his actions, and his history w/ michigan was overlooked. The regime has shifted since then, but it is unclear how much. I'm not quite convinced things have changed, but maybe the program has become desperate enough to take a flyer on him.

I would much rather have Patterson, but Miles seems to have the momentum now...at least that of the internets...

as to your list of other Big 10 violators, I don't want to be sparty, iowa, or ohio state. my solution to cheating would be to penalize cheaters, not turn the other way and start cheating just as much.

what do you really know about the QB from LSU??? you're talking about the situation like you have detailed intimate knowledge. he's also not the only kid this has happened to. once again, you're convincing yourself that all those red flags aren't really a big deal, becuase you've lowered your standards and don't want to believe it. don't do that.

Bo and LC weren't perfect, and neither was RR. Nobody is, but there is a big differnece between not being perfect and being dirty. I want a coach and a program that I can root for without having a guily conscience.

If nothing else, he's at the center of the SEC oversigning problem. The way he handled it has been well documented, and it says he has nearly zero character. He's leaving kids out to dry in order to get a handful of extra scholarhips every year. Don't give me the "everyone down there does it" excuse either.

Michigan just had it's first "major" violations in program history. Luckily, those were limited to questions about how much time the team spent stretching. With Miles, the University would be opening a whole other can of worms at a time when we are really vulnerable as a program.

I want Michigan to get back to winning as much as anyone, but I'm not willing to sell out to make it happen. If you are in a win at all costs mindset, then that is your opinion. But, don't try to talk yourself and everyone else into Les Miles by saying every major program has "as much, if not more" issues. That's simply not true. Les Miles has the reputation that he has because he has earned it.

The general assumption is that Harbaugh is the only replacement option for Rodriguez next year. It will be one of those two men heading the team. If Brandon sees Harbaugh as a can't miss replacement, and see this as his best, maybe only, opportunity to bring him to Ann Arbor, then he might just have to pull the trigger immediately to get it done. In short, he might just be too good to pass up, despite the fact the Rodriguez is showing quantifiable improvements.

All of this is based on the assumption that Rodriguez stays with the team. I think it's 95% likely that he stays here if he's given the option to do so. He even came out and told everyone he wants to be a Michigan Man at the football bust, but the possibility exists that he's fed up with the negativity, fed up with waiting for Brandon to decide, and fed up with dealing with all of the crap he's been forced to deal with due to what seems to be a divided house. If this is the case, and someone like Florida makes him an offer he can't refuse in a place where the talent required to be successful is already there, he just might jump ship and start fresh down south.

If this happened, and Harbaugh decides he'd rather be an NFL guys, Michigan would be left in a bind. I think/hope that this remote possibility has at least crossed the minds of people in the athletic department. They likely have some sort of contingency plan in place with a list of guys who at the least a) would jump at the opportunity, b) don't have skeletons that would embarrass the university, and c) have some semblance of head coaching success. While I don't think Brady Hoke is anyone's 1A choice to replace anybody, it sounds like he's got some people on the inside who think highly of him, and those people have him on this potential list.

For the record, I think Rodriguez deserves at least another year. He's building something that could be special, and I think a little bit of patience is required. I also am not totally convinced that Harbaugh is guaranteed to have the kind of success here that he's had at Stanford. If he hadn't played quarterback for Michigan, I don't know if all his supporters would be quite as gung ho about grabbing him as they currently are. While it's nice to have someone who understands and has been a part of the tradition we have, it doesn't necessarily promise that the person will have any kind of success.

If the security cameras show a sudden inperceivable blur flashing into the vault and back out of the vault, leaving a trail papers blowing across the floor, I'm going to be very worried about our quarterback situation....

I think the OP probably meant well, but the information in his post is small enough that he probably could've let everyone know the content of his post in the subject line. Something along the lines of: "Same Webb hasn't talked to DHart"

Then, the rest of his post could've been about "gut feeligs" and what not, and nobody gets hurt.

Hope we're still on a roll when they make their way up here. Iowa could be that perfect storm of a highly ranked team that is solid but far from invincible. Playing them at home after how close last year's game was could make for a great result. Trying not to look ahead and get my hopes up, but this year feels a lot differnt than last year (even though that feeling feels totally unfounded).

just really curious why winning this year seems to be so crucial for UM recruiting wise, while Notre Dame has been basically just as historically awful in recent years, yet still able to reel in high end recruits after losing a game. What gives???

I can see a scenario where jack is the new jacob and sawyer is the new mib. Jack is the clear cut jacob replacement, but I don't think anyone would expect sawyer. Sawyer seems to have the same obsession with getting off the island as the mib. He doesn't believe in it, and is determined to get off by any means possible. He thought he had found happiness with juliet, but he thinks jack took it away from him. I think he believes kate is his last chance, and I could see something happening where jack or the island are respnsible for kate's death in a tragic way that takes her from sawyer (her name has been crossed out).this would trigger an extreme hatred inside of sawyer for both jack and the island.
I could see the show ending with a scene that mimics jacob and mib on the beach, but this time with sawyer walking up to sit next to jack as the surprise ending.
Again, a longshot....

It's got plenty of room even with the laptop inside and is actually one of the slimmer bags I've seen. Pretty minimal with lots of pockets for a charger, ipod, etc. Would definitely recommend it. They also make a "sling" pack, which is the same with one less pocket and one diagonal strap.

I had a swiss army pack for my last computer and thought it worked great too.

NBA comparison wise, Deshawn could end up being pretty close to Ryan Gomes. Gomes was more of a scorer in college, but he also didn't have to waste a year under Amaker.

He could be one of those undersized PF/slow SF types who can contribute on a winner or put up good numbers on a crappy team, but probably not both. He's got a spot in the league though....after one more year.